Cloth laying machine having cloth roll accelerating means



Jan. 4, 1966 G. J. wENDELKr-:N 3,227,390

CLOTH LAYING MACHINE HAVING CLOTH ROLL ACCELERATING MEANS Filed-nec. 1o, 196s lUnited States Patent O CLOTH LAYING MACHINE HAVING CLOTH ROLL ACCELERATING `MEANS Gerard J. Wendelken, Harringtonlark, NJ., assigner to Cutting Room Appliances" Corp., New York, N.Y.

Filed Dec. 10, 1963, Ser. No. 329,587 3 Claims. (Cl. 242-7543) i roll supported thereon for rotation about an axis generally transverse tothe axis of motion of the carriage. vThe carriage normally incorporates means for positively driving a web of cloth prior to depositing the same upon the surface of the table, said means receiving motive power from the rotation of the wheels which support the'carriage. To prevent overfeeding of` the web .of cloth when the direction of movement of the carriage is reversed, it is known in the art to provide frictional braking means operating upon a spindle which supports the cloth roll for rotation.

In recent years, larger cloth `laying`"machines have featured motorized carriages, in which the wheels which support the carriage upon the table are power driven, so that it is no longer necessary to manually push the carriage. Theselarger machines are capable of supporting much heavier cloth rolls, and the use of such rolls has been limited by the difficulty of overcoming inertial forces exhibited by such heavier rolls during the periods in which feeding of the web from the roll is momentarily halted and again started. This action is necessary to prevent an excess of slack forming between the cloth guiding rollers in the carriage, `and when feeding is resumed, the positive driving means `normally present on the carriage has been insufficient to overcome `the static inertiaof the 'heavy cloth lroll, resulting in inadequate feeding.

It is therefore among the principal objects of the present invention to provide an improved cloth laying machin-e incorporating cloth `roll accelerating and deceleratof improved accelerating and decelerating means for use in conjunction with a cloth laying machine in which the cost of fabrication may be of a reasonably low order, with consequent wide sale, distribution, and use.

A feature of the invention lies in the fact that a single electric motor is used to provide both accelerating and decelerating functions, the motor serving as a dynamic brake during the latter function.`

Another feature of the invention lies in the fact that the accelerating-decelerating means is entirely automatic in operation. i

These objects and features, as well as other incidenta ends yand advantages, will more fully appear in the progress of the following disclosure, and be pointed out in the Aappended claims.

ICC

In the drawing, to which reference will be madein the specification, similar reference characters have been employed t-odesignate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary view in elevation, partly in section, of a cloth laying machine embodying the invention.

i FIGURE 2 is an enlarged view in elevation of the embodiment corresponding to the central portion of FIG- U-RE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view, as may be seen from the right hand portion of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a schematic electrical wiring diagram.

i In accordance with the invention, the device, generally indicated by reference character 10, is illustrated in FIG- URE 1 in use in conjunction with a conventional cloth layingmachine carriage 11. As is known in the art, the carriage 11 is supported for horizontal movement over th'e cloth laying table (not shown), and may include a plurality of vertical members 13 and 14, a plurality of horizontal members, one of which is indicated by reference character 15, the details of which are disclosed in the application of Emmanuel Theodosi-ou, Serial No. 153,546, now Patent No. 3,112,107 entitled High Speed Cloth `Laying Machine and assigned to the same assignee as `the present application, and w-ill therefore not be treated in greater detail herein. f

Supported on a pair of vertically disposed members, one of which is indicated by reference character 37, are

a pair of bearings, one of which is indicated by reference character 18, ythe bearings 18 supporting a cloth r-oll supporting spindle -19 in turn selectively supporting la cloth roll 20 from which a web of cloth 21 extends to be fed to the cloth laying table. As seen in FIGURE 1, the web 21 passes about a dancer roller 22 supported for orbital movement on a shaft 23 in- `turn-engaged by links 24, the lopposite ends of the `links 24 being mounted for rotation Iabout an axis passing through a shaft 25 supported on the frame element 12. At the upper end 26 of thevertical members 13 is a driven roller 27 having a sprocket 28 engaged by a sprocket chain 29, the lower end of which (not shown) is driven from the wheels supporting the carriage 11.

Positioned adjacent to the dancer roller 22 is a switch operating member 30, at a first end 31 thereof, the second end 32 thereof being supported for pivotal movement about an axis 33. A counterbalancing spring 34 supports a m-ajor portion of .the weight of the roller 22, wherein the member 30 may operate a micro-switch 35 with a relatively high degree of sensitivity.

The device 10 is secured to one of the members 17, and includes a mounting plate 37, a prime mover element 38, and a gear train element 39.

The prime mover element 38 is in the form of a fractional horsepower electric motor, preferably of a shunt wound type, including, .as seen in FIGURE 4, a field Winding 42 and an armature 43 connected in parallel therewith. The outer casing or cage 44 includes a frame 45 secured by bolt means 46 to the plate 37. The armature shaft 47 extends vertically outwardly of the casing 44 and drives the gear chain element 39.

The gear train element 39 includes a pinion 48 directly mounted on the shaft 47 which meshes with a gear 49 on a shaft 50. The shaft 5t) is supported on bearings 51 and 52 mounted on the plate 37, and drives a pinion 53 meshing with a gear 54 on a second shaft 55. The shaft 55 is likewise .supported on a pair of bearings 56 and 57, and mounts a bevel gea-r 58 on the uppermost end thereof meshing with a second beveled gear 59 adjacent one end of the spindle 19.

During operation, the device is placed in operation by the closing of a first switch 60 permitting current to ow to the windings ofthe element 38. As the carriage 11 is shuttled back and4 forth over the cloth laying table, the driven roller 27 feeds the web 21 to a point for laying on the table. So long as cloth is fed, the dancer roller 22 will remain in the position shown in FIGURE 1, and the motor 38 will positively drive the spindle 19. By using a gear reduction ratio in the element 39 of approximately 2O to l, and a motor of approximately 1/3 horsepower, adequate starting torque is provided to quickly bring upto speed the heaviest rolls 20 normally used in the industry. Upon the stopping of the carriage 11, and the necessary interruption of cloth feed, slack Will appear beneath the dancer roller 22, causing the contacts 36 to open the switch 35 and convert the motor 38 into a dynamic brake, the braking force of which will be directly proportional to the angular velocity of the spindle 19, Thus, as the spindle 19 approaches zero velocity, the braking force is proportionately diminished so that the cloth roll will not abruptly stop, but will practically coast to a stop, and in the event that feeding is commenced before the roll has completely stopped, it is more readily accelerated.

It may thus be seen that I have invented novel and highly useful improvements in a combination accelerating-decelerating means for use in conjunction with the reciprocating carriage of a cloth laying machine, wherein the overloading of the normal positive drive roller which pulls a web of cloth from a cloth roll may operate without overload and strain, as the inertial forces of the cloth roll are separtely compensated for. As the device is directly connected to the cloth roll spindle, modification of other components of the cloth laying carriage are unnecessary, wherein existing prior `art machine means may be modified to include the advantage of the invention without high additional cost.

I Wish it to be understood that I do not consider the invention limited to the precise detailsof structure shown and set forth in this specification, for obvious modifications will occur to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.

Y Iclaim:

. 1. In a cloth laying machine carriage including a cloth roll supporting spindle, a positively driven feed. roller, and a dancer roller mounted on said carriage for orbital movement about an axis parallel to the axis of said spindle, improved means for rotating said spindle in relation to rotation of said driven roller comprising; electric motor means mounted upon said carriage, gear reduction means interconnecting said electric motor means and said spindle, and switch means operated by orbital movement of said dancer roller controlling operation of said motor means.

2. In a cloth laying machine carriage including a cloth roll supporting spindle, a positively driven feed roller, and a dancer roller mounted on said carriage for orbital movement about an axis parallel to the axis of said spindle, improved means for rotating said spindle in relation to rotation of said driven roller comprising; electric motor means mounted upon said carriage, gear reduction means interconnecting said electric motor means and said spindle, and switch means operated by orbital movement of said dancer roller controlling operation of said motor means, said motor means acting as an electro-dynamic brake when said switch means is in open condition.

3. In a cloth laying machine carriage including a cloth roll supporting spindle, a positively driven feed roller, and a dancer roller mounted on said carriage for orbital movement about an axis parallel to the axis of said spindle, improved means for rotating said spindle in relation to rotation of said driven roller comprising; electric motor means mounted upon said carriage, gear reduction means interconnecting saidV electric motor means and said spindle, and switch means connected to said dancer roller and powering said motor means when said dancer roller is in predetermined position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,343,910 6/1920 Evans 242-7551 1,361,860 12/1920 Holt.

2,097,142 10/1937 Borton 242-755 2,603,428 7/ 1952 Newcombe 242-45 2,825,016 2/1958 Bailey 242-7544 X 2,903,635 9/1959 Brooke et al. 242-45 X 3,112,107 11/1963 Theodosiou 270-31 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner. STANLEY N. GILREATH, Examiner.

VJ. S. BURDEN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A CLOTH LAYING MACHINE CARRIAGE INCLUDING A CLOTH ROLL SUPPORTING SPINDLE, A POSITIVELY DRIVEN FEED ROLLER, AND A DANCER ROLLER MOUNTED ON SAID CARRIAGE FOR ORBITAL MOVEMENT ABOUT AN AXIS PARALLEL TO THE AXIS OF SAID SPINDLE, IMPROVED MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID SPINDLE IN RELATION TO ROTATION OF SAID DRIVEN ROLLER COMPRISING; ELECTRIC MOTOR MEANS MOUNTED UPON SAID CARRIAGE, GEAR REDUCTION MEANS INTERCONNECTING SAID ELECTRIC MOTOR MEANS AND SAID SPINDLE, AND SWITCH MEANS OPERATED BY ORBITAL MOVEMENT OF SAID DANCER ROLLER CONTROLLING OPERATION OF SAID MOTOR MEANS. 